Subtle Bravery
by Someone aka Me
Summary: "The Blacks, they are Slytherins, through and through. And yet, simultaneously, they are the bravest of all." 5 Drabbles on the bravery of Sirius, Andromeda, Regulus, Bellatrix, and Narcissa. Now complete.
1. Sirius

_**Sirius**_

He's worth noting, within the Blacks, because he's the Gryffindor. He's the odd one out. And it seems strange, that a boy from such a solidly Slytherin family would ever be a Gryffindor, but there's no doubt it's where he belongs. After all, he's recklessly brave, foolishly rash, and he will never do anything with great consideration. He believes in flying through life by the seat of his pants and hoping everything turns out okay in the end.

He's fiercely loyal, however, though he doesn't seem to realize that the trait that he prizes so highly is a Black trait through and through. Because, as a whole, the Blacks believe in loyalty above all – loyalty to blood. Sirius defied the trend in giving his loyalty to his friends, not his family, but it's still a Black trait.


	2. Andy

_**Andy**_

She's as much a Slytherin as Sirius is a Gryffindor. They accuse her of thinking with her heart and not her head, but that's not true. She listens to her heart, takes into account what it has to say, and then she deliberates with her head. She truly does consider every situation from every angle, even if only given a moment to consider it.

The situation with Ted, for example. While it's true that her heart was saying, "Pick him," that's not why she did it. She thought it all through. She deeply considered what her life would be like with Ted, and what her life would be like without him. She saw the advantages and detriments to each. And when she weighed out each choice on the scales, Ted won.

No matter what anyone thinks, it _hurt_ her to leave her sisters behind. She truly did love both Bella and Cissy, and it _hurts_ that they won't speak to her any more. But she wouldn't given Nymphadora up for the world, and she made the choice that she believed – believes – was right.


	3. Reg

_**Reg**_

He's not brave, like his brother. He doesn't have conviction, like his cousin. Fact is, he's a coward who has absolutely no idea what he's doing. But it works for him. He stumbles through life in the dark, but when it really matters, he does what needs doing. And he does it by himself.

He doesn't want to die. He doesn't want to give his life for what's right. While noble, the idea still doesn't appeal to him in the slightest. He finds no interest in being a martyr.

Still, when it comes down to it, he does what needs to be done, because he's the only one that seems to know it needs doing. He knows full well that it will kill him, but this fact is trumped by the fact that if he doesn't, no one will. So he dies a silent hero – he's never needed a blaze of glory.


	4. Bella

_**Bella**_

They think she's crazy, but she's not. She's perfectly sane, thank you very much. She just happens to posses an unusually large devotion to a cause she knows is right. She _believes _in this; she believes in the Dark Lord. And she will do anything, _anything_ to further his cause.

She isn't crazy, and she isn't stupid. She's convinced. And she will give anything, do anything, for that conviction. She'd go to the ends of the earth if that's what he asked for, because she knows he's got it right.

And it doesn't bother her that she spends fifteen years in Azkaban – that doesn't matter because _she _doesn't matter. All that matters is the Dark Lord.

It's not a conventional sort of bravery, by any means, but it's the way she does things, because she's a Black, and she believes in loyalty as fiercely as does the cousin whose existence she denies.


	5. Cissy

_**Cissy**_

She's not like the rest of them. She's vain, and shallow, and she has no conviction in anything. But she believes in family. She believes in the accidental, involuntary bonds that form between those that are blood related, and she believes that those bonds triumph over everything else. She never forgets Sirius, who left, but who's still her cousin. She never forgets Andy, who married a Muggle, but who's still her sister.

She doesn't talk about them, because no one else will acknowledge them, but she never forgets.

And in that battle, the last battle, her family is at stake. And that doesn't sit right with her. And she knows, in her heart, that the only way her family can come out of this _whole_ is if it's over. It all has to be over.

So she lies for a boy she knows only by name; she lies to save the boy who's been nothing but trouble, because she knows that he is the only way this can all end. She lies for her family.


End file.
